Two pilots die after Army chopper crashes in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh

An Indian Army chopper that had gone missing on Thursday morning crashed in the West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh. The Cheetah chopper was disconnected from the radar at around 9.15 am in the morning.

Tezpur (Assam): In yet another crash in Arunachal Pradesh, two pilots of the Army were killed after an Indian Army Cheetah crashed in the West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday morning. The chopper crashed during its routine sorties. This is the third crash in the last six months in the state.

The Army Cheetah helicopter lost contact with Mandela near Bomdila shortly after taking off from the Sange Army camp in Sela Pass in West Kameng district for a daily flight to Tezpur on Thursday, Defence Spokesperson Lt Col Mahendra Rawat said. The helicopter was flying to the Tezpur Misamari army camp.

The two pilots, Lt Col Vinay Bhanu Reddy and Major Jayant A lost their lives in the incident, West Kameng District Superintendent of Police B. Bharat Reddy told ETV Bharat over the telephone. The helicopter lost contact near Dirang in the West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh and rescue teams rushed to the scene at 11 pm. Meanwhile, the rescue team includes Army, SSB, ITBP, Arunachal Police and locals.

The mortal remains of the two army pilots have already been recovered from the spot and brought to Dirang police station and the post-mortem of the two pilots will be conducted at the Dirang government hospital on Friday, the SP said. He said the accident was likely due to adverse weather conditions.

Sadly, this is the third such case of a chopper crashing in the last six months in Arunachal Pradesh. In October of last year, a military chopper crashed in a village in the Upper Siang district. The incident resulted in search and rescue operations being initiated, and teams were sent to the crash site. Four persons were killed in the crash.

In October itself another Cheetah helicopter of the Indian Army crashed near Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh killing two pilots onboard. The crash happened during a routine sortie in a forward area of the district close to the China border.